Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Although I am on vacation this is too important for quite a few of my customers. Here it goes:

If you have a Yahoo email address you need to read this! All others can relax - for now.

It has happened; this ZD-Net article has the details why for some of their users Yahoo has made it impossible to access their emails. Currently for "some users" only but what if this "test" proves successful for Yahoo? They will do it to all accounts! You can bet on that!

Why did these good people with a Yahoo email address get bloaked from accessing their emails? They used an Ad blocker because

Use an
ad-blocker. Ads with active content (moving or playing
anything in the ad) require the use of Javascript or Flash;
actively block all advertisements.

Use a
password manager. Despite the many reminders telling people
to use different and complex passwords, a huge percentage of users
maintain borderline idiotic approaches. Simply: Get
a password manager. It will protect you.

Use
two-factor authentication. Gmail, Twitter, Dropbox, Hotmail
and Facebook offer 2FA free of charge. Even if your password does
get exposed, you still have a text message as backup.

Use the
HTTPS Everywhere browser plug-in. It comes from the
Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and will enforce encrypted
browser communication.

Encrypt
your hard drive. Relatively
easy these days but be careful to do two things:
1
Have a long encryption phrase for best results
2 Make
darn'd sure you remember that phrase. The small slowdown in
performance is tolerable on a modern computer.

Be smart with your security
questions. Don't use your mother's maiden name everywhere;
or your first school. Mix things up; one account gets hacked the
same information does not apply everywhere else.

We need to begin to talk publicly about alternatives to MS Windows! Yes, there are alternatives.I promise an article about the alternative(s) in the near future.And yes, in future this blog will talk about other computer operating systems but Windows.

What is the one, big major difference between Windows and the alternatives? Technically: Repositories are centrally managed.
Economically: The alternatives are free; free as in no money.

Sunday, November 1, 2015

Let me, at least by name, introduce Susan Bradley to you. The lady is a very experienced and knowledgeable system administrator in the world of Microsoft networks and she is a Microsoft MVP. She is very active on widely read internet forums and generally well respected.

Ms. Bradley started a petition on Change.org asking Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadella to reconsider the Windows 10 policy of forcing updates of the Windows operating system on user's machines.

Today Ms. Bradley posted an update to her petition that you can find here.

I have little doubt that Microsoft could and will attempt something like that. I would consider this to be an intrusion into my personal and private sphere.MS seems to think they own my computer! Have they gone nuts?

It is time that we begin to talk publicly about alternatives to MS Windows!

And before you ask, yes, there are alternatives. I do not want to discuss these here because this blog is named "Computer Trouble..." and that means trouble with MS Windows computers and I will keep it that way.

Friday, October 23, 2015

A significant number of Canon-printer owners had print-head failures
soon after the one-year warranty expired. There seemed to be a pattern,
which prompted a class-action lawsuit. Though Canon denied any
wrongdoing, they agreed to pay $930,000. Each class member will receive
$50 in cash or $75 for a Canon store voucher. Canon also agreed to
extend the warranty period by nine months for those who have print-head
issues.
To see the particular models involved, and to get listed as a lawsuit class member, go to the settlement information site before Nov. 24.

For years now I have said that ink jet printers seem to be a scam to sell massively overpriced ink. In the long run you generally are way better off with a faster laser printer.

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Original
quote from those TermsWe collect non-personal data to
make money from our free offerings so we can keep them free,
including:

Advertising ID
associated with your device.

Browsing and
search history, including meta data.

Internet service
provider or mobile network you use to connect to our products.

Information regarding other applications
you may have on your device and how they are used.

Adobe Flash Player and Adobe
Shockwave again fix numerous
vulnerabilities.
The sad thing is there are no alternatives to
Flash & Shockwave because these formats are so widely used on the
Internet.
Officially “current versions as of October 7th:
Flash 19.0.0.185, Shockwave 12.2.0.162

The following are excerpts from an Infoworld paper published under the title “Everything you need to know about Windows 10”.

Iinfoworld has these 10 reservations against Windows 10:

Substantial privacy concerns regarding Windows 10. The trade-offs between privacy and what the system “needs to know” can not be simply decided as a black and white decision.
The same is true for Windows 10's automatically attached Advertising ID.

OneDrive works different from Windows 7 and Windows 8. VERY confusing!

Media Center and DVD player missing.

No useful “universal apps”. The Windows Store is a wasteland.

Mail program and Edge browser are test versions at best. Maturing is badly needed.

Tablet Mode partially useless (MS Office is better on an iPad than on a Win 10 tablet).

The installer may determine that they (MS) are ot quite ready for your machine yet.
Beg your pardon? Microsoft themselves seem to know that the upgrade isn't as easy peasy
as they want us to believe!

Forced updates have already caused quite a few problems.

“If it ain't broke don't fix it”. If you are using Windows 7 properly updated and have switched away from Internet Explorer than there is hardly a reason to risk the upgrade.

WAY TOO MANY open questions!

And Infoworld has 10 reasons for an upgrade; I have taken the liberty to comment in the second line:

The new Start Menu is a big plus for keyboard and mouse users of Windows 8/8.1if they had never heard of Classic Shell (and here) which creates a menu identical to Win 7.

DirectX 12 is a BIG plus for hard core gamershard core gamers know what they want and where to get it.

Some security improvements already in Win 10 and some announcedthe old game of a sparrow in the hand and a dove on the tree.

Notification Center similar to smart phones.
those who ignore notifications now have a central place where they can do their ignoring.

Actually usable on touch screen units like tabletspartially usable that is; MS Office still is better on the iPad!

Multiple desktops built-in
power users always knew how to get that, even free as in no money.

Cortana may some day actually help you
but when? And what does it in the meantime? Listening, recording and building a case?

Edge browser is getting bettermeaning now it is not (yet) good enough for prime time.

Navigation is easier for mouse usersthan in Win 8/8.1; only for those who could not help themselves so far.

I can only repeat what I have said many times before:

Get ALL the information, combinethat with your individual situation and then make an educated decision.

As usual I welcome comments and suggestions right here in the blog. Thank you in advance.

For whatever reason the darned TOC (Table Of Contents) feature that I got from Google does not work any longer, sorry. And I just don't have the
time to hunt down another solution; if you know one please tell me in a
comment. Thank you.

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Since
July 29th.
(release of Windows 10) MS has “invented” two levels of trickery
to get users to upgrade to Win 10. None is documented.

Windows
10 “talks” to Microsoft even
when all feedback options are turned off. This IMHO is

sleazy,

secretive,

dishonest,

disrespectful,

and two
faced.

Even well known 'download
web sites” use trickery to
get unsuspecting users to allow installation of definitely unwanted
programs. Stay away from –
for example – cnet.com, download.com, softpedia.com and many
others.
Download programs from the developer only.

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Malvertising
“explodes” 2013 saw a
more than 200 percent increase over 2012 according to the Online
Trust Alliance; they logged some 12.4 billion malvertisement
impressions.
2014 saw a 300 percent increase in malvertising
over 2013 (ca. 37 billion).
2015 it increased by more than 260 % over 2014, in the
first six months alone (over
100 billion/year)
Estimated damages 2015 alone about $1bn!

That
is why I say: If you see advertisements your
computer is NOT SAFE!

Belkin
routers NOT SAFE!
No details about
what models; all I can recommend is: Buy another brand router (I
prefer Netgear)

Many
top level domains on the internet are dangerous!
More than
95 percent of the hundreds of thousands websites in each of ten top
level domains (TLDs) including .country, cricket, .science, .review,
.zip and .party are flogging spam, malware, or adware.Stay
away! Here are names of
TLDs and percentage of infectuous sites:

1

.zip

100.00%

2

.review

100.00%

3

.country

99.97%

4

.kim

99.74%

5

.cricket

99.57%

6

.science

99.35%

7

.work

98.20%

8

.party

98.07%

9

.gq

97.68%

(Equatorial
Guinea)

10

.link

96.98%

.

Parents need to wake up!Of
1,494 apps and websites for children67% collect children’s personal information; half of these
share personal information with third parties.
22% gather children's phone number and 23% allowed them to provide photos
or video.

Saturday, August 29, 2015

I have been asked one too many times why I oppose Windows 10. Here is some more fodder for thought.

Besides all eventual arguments for or against technical merit here are
only three facts that everybody can check out in Microsoft's Terms of
Use for Windows 10. Every single install of Windows 10 must agree to Microsoft's Terms And Conditions for use of Windows 10. This is (supposedly) a 12,000 word document. Everybody I know, me included, just clicks on Agree - and Microsoft knows that.

We usually allow Windows 10 to install with Express Settings (the default that most people choose!); in the Terms of Use we can find that we agree among others goodies to:

Windows 10 is logging all keystrokes

Windows 10 is always listening to the microphone

Microsoft will turn over all your data and info about you to authorities

Re. point #1:

Programs that log our keystrokes on the functional level of the operating system (or even below that) have always been called Key Loggers and always have by all security systems been flagged as viruses and removed.

Just think of every keystroke being logged and stored at MS (Microsoft); what about your username(s) and password(s)? What about account details like credit card or bank or investment account numbers?

Re. point #2:

Many desktop computers and virtually all laptop computers have a microphone. Windows 10 will record and store on MS's servers every spoken word that reaches the microphone while the computer is running. Big Brother is always listening!

Windows 10 will (at least try to) make an automatic backup copy of every file you create on your computer and store that copy on MS's servers. What about confidentiality requirements? No lawyer, doctor, real estate agent, CPA or PI can ever use Windows 10; actually everybody who by law is required to respect and guarantee any degree of confidentiality should never use Windows 10.

Re. point #3:

That sounds kind of "normal" and okay - on the surface at least.

BUT: MS does not say that they require a court order or warrant for that.
Any "authority" can request and will receive all your files and all information about you that MS has gathered.

With no court order at all!

Then there is yet another side to the whole thing that, for me at least, is even more scary; although I have to warn you, it will take 30 minutes away from your busy day to listen to this "video" - which actually is a recorded audio interview.

As usual I welcome comments and suggestions right here in the blog. Thank you in advance.

For whatever reason the darned TOC (Table Of Contents) feature that I got from Google does not work any longer, sorry. And I just don't have the time to hunt down another solution; if you know one please tell me in a comment. Thank you.

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

For
the unsuspecting home user I have decided to give clear warnings:Do
Not Install Windows 10!
In
it's default settings Windows
10 does not respect even basic privacy.

Google
Chrome'sHTTPS
extension can easily be turned OFF by visiting malicious web page!

I can't say it often enough:
Do NOT, I repeat DO NOT USE Google Chrome!
About 50% of all
malware infections I currently see happened when using Chrome!

Yahoo!
slings viruses of he nasty sort – again!

Original
quote from The Register;
“Yahoo!
has been used to spread ransomware to Windows PCs almost exactly a
year after he previous outbreak”.

Users
of Apple anything: Check for updates! Most
anything from Apple is affected.

Do
yo see advertisements?Your
computer IS NOT SAFE!
The Register: Internet
lowlifes
who used Yahoo!
ads to infect potentially countless PCs with malware have struck
again – using adverts on popular websites to reach millions more
people. See this article.
Some affected web sites are ebay, Drudge Report,
weather.com plus many others.
This campaign now resides on
AOL.com For many years already I tell my customers

Do
not use AOL, Yahoo, NetZero, Juno!

My customers have nothing to
fear; IMHO a good ad-blocker is mandatory!

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

I have said it to countless customers and I say it again, publicly and absolutely clear:

If you see advertisements while browsing the internet then your computer is not set up safely!

I have said it to countless customers and I say it again, publicly and absolutely clear:

Stay away from Yahoo!

And I mean Yahoo! everything; email, finance, sports, EVERYTHING that comes from Yahoo!

Here is a literal quote from NetworkWorld.com (bolding and links added by yours truly):

Malwarebytes Labs recently uncovered a large malvertising attack on
the Yahoo! advertising network that started on July 28. Malwarebytes
estimates that up to 6.9 billion readers could have been affected,
making it one of the largest malvertising attacks Malwarebytes Labs has
seen recently.

Malvertising is defined
as crafted advertisements that intentionally infect the computers of
anyone who visits the site. A tiny piece of code hidden deep in the ad
will reroute your computer to criminal servers without your knowledge,
which then determines how exposed your computer is and decides which
piece of malware to send you.

In the case of the Yahoo ad,
victims are infected with ransomware via the Angler Exploit Kit, but
it’s possible that anything from banking Trojans to additional
advertising fraud is also being used in this attack.

Malwarebytes
said that the infection included Yahoo's main site, as well as subgroups
like News, Finance, Sports, Celebrity, and Games. The ads route users
to a site on Microsoft Azure, which eventually leads to the Angler
Exploit Kit.

But,
according to a friend at Malwarebytes, when you are running Adblock
Plus or any other ad blocker, then the ad never plays, so no payload is
delivered to your PC. So the malware doesn't ever get to touch your PC.
Even if you don't click on the ad, the fact is it loads and becomes
saved in your browser cache, so it does get onto your PC without the
blocker.

My customers do not need to worry about malvertising, they all have Adblock Plus installed. All others please listen up:

If you use ANYthing from Yahoo! and/orif you see advertisements when web surfingthen your computer is UNSAFE!

Do yourself a favor, get your computer cleaned up and secured.

As usual I welcome comments and suggestions right here in the blog. Thank you in advance.

For whatever reason the darned TOC (table of contents) feature that I got from Google does not work any longer, sorry.

Sunday, August 16, 2015

I am doing my Set-Up job for a customer on a Windows 8.1 computer.My very first thing after getting it to work in desktop mode always is Windows Update until the system is fully up to date; then comes everything else.

Well, maybe if an anti virus or security system is installed I will remove that before I do the bulk of updating; many of these systems make a basic computer run clearly slower.

Above mentioned system was brand new and it had been bought from the Microsoft Store as a so called "Signature system", that is guaranteed free of any gunk, trial or other potentially unwanted software.

This was the very first startup of the Windows 8.1 system and I expected GWX not to be present. GWX is Microsoft's trickery software to coax unsuspecting individuals into "reserving" and/or outright downloadung the free upgrade to Windows 10.

When I started Windows Update for the first time it showed 122 important and 6 or 7 optional updates. I checked that there was nothing called anything like "Upgrade to Windows 10" or similar; there was nothing of that kind. I told the system to install the updates.

Imagine my shock when as the very next thing Windows Update showed me exactly this window:

WHAT it screamed inside me; I did not ask for Windows 10! I immediately stopped the download and resolved to talk it over with the customer.

So I called, explained the situation and asked if she would be okay with Windows 10 if I would include for free all the steps to make it respect privacy that I have described in previous articles. The lady was okay with that so I told Windows 8.1 to install the updates - and it showed again above depicted window.

To my greatest surprise Windows 8.1 did all the 8.1 updates, always showing above progress window but actually never downloading or installing the Windows 10 upgrade.

PHEW!

My very personal conclusion to this story? Some people at Microsoft are either overworked, totally stressed out, simply not at all caring about quality and quality control or they are outright idots.

Or any combination thereof, you choose.

As usual I welcome comments and suggestions right here in the blog. Thank you in advance.

For whatever reason the darned TOC (table of contents) feature that I got from Google isn't working any longer, sorry.

Saturday, August 15, 2015

For years I have recommended not to buy Dell computers because way back when Dell had been caught with dishonest business practices. After years of staunch resistance I have relented for reasons of price/performance. Recently I had to recommend some Dell laptops from the Microsoft Store.

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

If the word privacy and the concept of privacy mean anything to you then you should stay away form the biggest data slurp this world has ever seen. That IMHO is what Windows 10 is going to be.

Here is an example of what others think about Windows 10; this a literal quote from a reply to an article about Windows 10 privacy settings (bolding added by me):

Microsoft has built into Windows 10, the most comprehensive personal
surveillance system ever built into an OS. . .
I cannot, for the life of me, envision any reputable business or
government entity running this illegal and unconstitutional monstrosity -
and still claim that they are able to protect client/citizen's privacy.
Doctor's, lawyers, banks or anyplace where client/patient privacy is
important should probably avoid Windows Malware 10 at all cost.

And as far as technical "improvements" are concerned here is a snippet from one of the support forums I follow. A user of this forum put it very nicely and IMHO he nailed it precisely:

Personally, I haven't seen a compelling reason to upgrade to Windows 10. ... I haven't found a good reason to upgrade from Windows 8.1...

PRO: Start Menu.
CON: I already have Classic Shell, which is more like the Start Menu to which I am accustomed, and much more configurable.

PRO: Windowed Universal (Metro/Windows Store) Apps.
CON: I haven't found any Universal Apps that are any better than the desktop programs I already have installed.

PRO: Comes with Solitaire:
CON: You can get solitaire in Windows 8.1 also, from the Windows Store.

PRO: New Mail and Calendar Apps.
CON: Not even as capable as Microsoft's Windows Live Mail 2012 with Microsoft Accounts, and relatively useless with some other accounts. Where are my local folders? Why is the Spam from the junk folder archived forever, it's Spam!?!

PRO: New Photos App.
CON: Better photo editors are out there.

PRO: DirectX 12.
CON: I can't think of a con to this one, except I don't really play games on this computer. That's what consoles are for. (And I don't really care about the XBox App...)

PRO: Unified Settings.
CON: Thanks for moving around the Control Panel again...

So far for the quote. I had a similar compilation in an earlier article; in case you are interested it is here.

As I said above, my verdict is clear; if you have a well working Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 system there is no compelling technical reason to upgrade to Windows 10; you only would give up what vestiges of privacy there are left in the brave new world of Windows 10 home computing.

As usual I welcome comments and suggestions right here in the blog. Thank you in advance.

Saturday, August 8, 2015

After writing the previous long, long article about how to make Windows 10 running without the glaring privacy issues I discovered on a forum a link to a MUCH better organized article with visual examples for everything from installation to changing the relevant settings.

If you absolutely do not mind to be followed by "Big Brother" then please do not read the remainder of this article, you are excused and may leave.

By now I have decided to recommend to my customers NOT to upgrade to Windows 10. There are way too many IMHO serious privacy issues that go along with a so called Microsoft account.

In the following I will give some tips on how to remedy at least some or much of that messy situation. For every instance of something I deem in need of correcting or changing I will preface the paragraph with "Gripe:".

Because virtually all of my customers work on the desktop and use a mouse and a keyboard all the following step by step instructions are for desktop mode only.

Immediately after upgrading to Windows 10 your computer will work quite differently than it did before the upgrade.

Gripe:
If you gave the system on first start your email address Microsoft has
created on their servers the storage for an immense wealth of
information about you that Win10 and it's programs will collect from and
about you; and that besides the fact that every email address will have
it's unique "advertisement ID" assigned. Guess what that will be used
for!

If you want to change your inadvertently created Microsoft Account back into a normal, local account then:

Right click on the Start button

Open Control Panel

Click Settings

Click ====================to be finished

Gripe:
Synchronizing personal settings between various computers could under certain circumstances be a convenience. But some of us
don’t want the same settings on all of our various Win10
computers. Just imagine using Win10 on your “old” keyboard/mouse
computer and on a tablet; ARGGHH!

Plus: My settings are my personal preference and are none of Microsoft's business! Obviously I am way too old for that brave new world where everything is made public! If you are like me here is how to turn synching off:

Right click on the Start button

Open Control Panel

Click Settings

Click Accounts

Click Sync your settings

Turn OFF Sync settings to disable synchronizing

Gripe:Microsoft Edge, the new web browser, will be the default for all things Internet. You should set that back to Firefox following these steps:

Right click on the Start button

Open Control Panel

Click Default Programs

Click on "Set your default programs"

You should see a list of installed programs

Find and highlight the entry for Firefox

Click on "Set this program as default" (my cursor points to it)

Click OK to close the window

Gripe:System Protection is the Win10 name for the feature that creates Restore Points. This is turned off after the upgrade on many systems! It is by no means a good backup system but still better than nothing. Here is how to turn it on again:

Right click on the Start button

Open Control Panel

Click System

In the left sidebar click System protection

Highlight your system disk C:

Click Configure (see screen shot)

7. Click on "Turn on system protection" (see screen shot below)
8. Click OK and OK to close all windows

Gripe:Especially important to users of laptops computers are Wi-Fi-credentials

A new Win10 feature —
WiFi Sense (online FAQ)
— has generated more than its share of controversy. Just read what
well renowned security researcher Brian Krebs has has to say about it
in a recent column.

Simply said WiFi Sense allows all your Facebook friends,
Outlook and Skype contacts to automatically sign in to your WiFi
router when they are in range; likewise you can use their WiFi network as soon as you are in range of their router. In short, it “blabs” access to
your WiFi network to numbers of people who you might not know well
enough. And that feature is turned ON by default! Here is how to turn
it off:

Right click on the Start button

Open Control Panel

Click Settings

Click Network &
Internet

Click Wi-Fi.

Scroll past your wireless
networks and click Manage Wi-Fi settings.

Turn off Connect to suggested open hotspots and

Turn off Connect to networks shared by my contacts.

Gripe:
Simply said, I hate Cortana,the so-called “digital
assistant” in Win10.My wife and my best friend may
know a lot about me that you don't know and likely even don't want to
know. The NSA, Apple and now Microsoft want to know more about every
Apple or Win10 user then we want to know about ourselves.

The End User License Agreement (EULA) for Win10 clearly
states that Cortana has the ability to collect and use various types
of personal information, including your location, calendar data, and
programs (called "apps") you use. Cortana collects information about your choice of
music, alarm settings, what you view and purchase online, your Bing
search history, your use of other Microsoft services, and can even
use the camera and microphone of the computer. In short, it is ALWAYS
listens when the computer is on. Remember, practically all laptop
computers have a microphone and a camera.

Here
is a decent PC World article explaining how to disable Cortana. And don't forget additionally and separately to disable Cortana in the new Edge browser, even
if you don't use it!

Remember, Big Brother is always listening, always watching.

Gripe:
Since Microsoft announced that the upgrade to Windows 10 will be
free, I have been waiting for the catch. And, surprise, it's very first installment comes with
the ubiquitous game of Solitaire.This popular app is included with the new OS, but it includes
advertising. To remove the ads, you have to pay a monthly
subscription, as reported in a Business Insider story.

Currently I do not know of a hack to get around this.

Just do not go into the trap of recurring payments. There are many free alternatives on the internet.

Gripe:
Along with forced updates, Win10 also includes — again, on by
default — the option to share patches with other computers on your
local network or the Internet; this is called peer-to-peer updating.
You might want to disable update sharing.

There are serious concerns
that attackers might find a way to inject malicious code into the
process; many internet connections are metered and with the almost
3GB download size of Win10 you can easily run over your limit and
that costs dearly.
You want to disable peer-to-peer updating obtain patches only
directly from Microsoft? Here is how:

Right click on the Start button

Open Control Panel

Click Settings

Click Update & Security

Click windows Update (it is no longer in the Control Panel!)

Select Advanced Options

Click Choose how updates are delivered

Turn Update Sharing OFF

So much for today. This article is meant to be continued as more details become available.

As usual I welcome comments and suggestions right here in the blog. Thank you in advance.

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

You will get updates like it or not
License
agreement: 'receive these types of automatic updates without any
additional notice'.

Will be sold on USB drives (no need for DVD
drive!)
Seen on Amazon.com's pre-order page; US release date
likely August 30th

Price
for Windows 10 Home $119.99, for Windows 10 Pro $199.99

Adobe Flash player

A seemingly
endless saga of bugs and updates.
Per July 20th
you should be at version 18.0.0.209; everything below that is
potentially dangerous!
Mozilla on July 20th
temporarily blocked Flash Player in Firefox!

This month's Patch Tuesday fixed 59
vulnerabilities

Microsoft stops AV support for XP

Microsoft
Security Essentials nolonger updated on Window XP
Yes, there are
still about 180
million people
using it!

WPA-TKIP can be cracked in an hour!Check
your WiFi setup.
I know many (older?) DSL routers that have
ONLY WPA-TKIP; they need to be replaced!

Google Chrome to add RED SCREEN warning

Only for ads with
malicious content, known malicious web pages and web sites.

CVS's photo web site hacked and off-lineOther
possibly affected firms are Walmart, Costco, Tesco, Asda & Marks
and Spencer; they all used Canada-based PNI Digital Media.
I
recently tried the CostCo web service and was appalled by it's bad
user interface; I ran away real quick.

Updated A Windows 10 feature, Wi-Fi Sense, smells like a security risk: it can share access to Wi-Fi networks with the user's contacts.

Wi-Fi Sense has been on Windows Phone since 8.1

Those contacts include their Outlook.com (nee
Hotmail) contacts, Skype contacts and, with an opt-in, their Facebook
friends. There is method in the Microsoft madness – it saves having to
shout across the office or house “what’s the Wi-Fi password?” – but ease
of use has to be teamed with security. If you wander close to a
wireless network, and your friend knows the password, and you both have
Wi-Fi Sense, you can log into that network.

Wi-Fi Sense doesn’t
reveal the plaintext password to your family, friends, acquaintances,
and the chap at the takeaway who's an Outlook.com contact, but it does
allow them, if they are also running Wi-Fi Sense, to log in to your
Wi-Fi. The password must be stored centrally by Microsoft, and is copied
to a device for it to work; Microsoft just tries to stop you looking at
it. How successful that will be isn't yet known.
"For networks
you choose to share access to, the password is sent over an encrypted
connection and stored in an encrypted file on a Microsoft server, and
then sent over a secure connection to your contacts' phone if they use
Wi-Fi Sense and they're in range of the Wi-Fi network you shared," the Wi-Fi Sense FAQ states.
Microsoft
also adds that Wi-Fi Sense will only provide internet access, and block
connections to other things on the wireless LAN: "When you share
network access, your contacts get internet access only. For example, if
you share your home Wi-Fi network, your contacts won't have access to
other computers, devices, or files stored on your home network."
That
sounds wise – but we're not convinced how it will be practically
enforced: if a computer is connected to a protected Wi-Fi network, it
must know the key. And if the computer knows the key, a determined user
or hacker will be able to find it within the system and use it to log
into the network with full access.
In theory, someone who wanted
access to your company network could befriend an employee or two, and
drive into the office car park to be in range, and then gain access to
the wireless network. Some basic protections, specifically ones that
safeguard against people sharing their passwords, should prevent this.
The
feature has been on Windows Phones since version 8.1. If you type the
password into your Lumia, you won’t then need to type it into your
laptop, because you are a friend of yourself. Given the meagre installed base of Windows Phones it's not been much of a threat – until now.
With
every laptop running Windows 10 in the business radiating access, the
security risk is significant. A second issue is that by giving Wi-Fi
Sense access to your Facebook contacts, you are giving Microsoft a list
of your Facebook friends, as well as your wireless passwords.
In an attempt to address the security hole it has created, Microsoft offers a kludge of a workaround: you must add _optout to the SSID (the name of your network) to prevent it from working with Wi-Fi Sense.
(So if you want to opt out of Google Maps and Wi-Fi Sense at the same time, you must change your SSID of, say, myhouse to myhouse_optout_nomap. Technology is great.)
Microsoft
enables Windows 10's Wi-Fi Sense by default, and access to
password-protected networks are shared with contacts unless the user
remembers to uncheck a box when they first connect. Choosing to switch
it off may make it a lot less useful, but would make for a more secure
IT environment.
Yes, wireless passwords can be written down and
trivially passed along to others: we know network security shouldn't end
at the Wi-Fi login prompt. But there's nothing like an OS automating
the practice of blabbing passphrases to your mates, eh?

Updated to add

A
Microsoft PR rep has been in touch about the headline, pointing out
that when you share access to your network via Wi-Fi Sense, your
contacts cannot share that access to other people. We know this.
The
headline still stands because: imagine you and I are friends, and you
visit my house. I tell you the Wi-Fi password, or you read it off the
fridge. You type it into your Windows 10 device, and access to my
network is shared via Wi-Fi Sense with your Windows 10 friends. Your
friends now have access to my network, or in other words, my friend's
friends now have access to the network.
And that's not good.
--------------------------

So far for the article from The Register.

By now I have installed several versions of Windows 10 Preview and the install process has changed over time - which is to be expected in a preview for testing of a product that is in active development. The last install(s) have asked questions about sharing Wi-Fi keys and I have declined. By the way, I am planning an extensive article about the install process of Windows 10.

I have declined to share Wi-Fi keys because I read the questions before I ACCEPT the default settings. These preselected default settings more often that not help Microsoft rather than the individual user; that at least is my experience with Microsoft software and products since I know them - and that is only since about the early 1980s.

As usual I welcome comments and suggestions right here in the blog. Thank you in advance.

Thursday, July 2, 2015

I hardly can count how often I have spoken in my radio shows about repair scams and other tricks crooks use to scare unsuspecting computer users into handing over their credit card info; that is what all these and similar scams come down to.

Here is only a small selection of articles from this blog that deal with various aspects of this situation - with NO claim of completeness at all:

The newest twist in this never ending saga happens as follows: You are on a web site you have been on many, many times, let's say for information on your favorite hobby. Naturally after having used that web site for years you assume it is "clean" and the information from there is valid.

But suddenly you get a pop up window or some other kind of message informing you that "your computer has been reported" to some "Windows Security" team or it "is infected with 567 viruses" or similar.

This sort of pop up is by definition a scam!

Do not click anywhere in this window.

If applicable DO NOT call the toll free phone number givin in the message.

Do NOT "x out" of this window, that is do not click on the "red X" in the top right corner of the window to close it.

The only safe way out of such windows and/or messages is to close them with Alt+F4, that is holding down the Alternate key and while holding this key down pressing function key F4.

Beside getting out of this window safely I would avoid ever again going to this web site. There is almost always some alternative.

Why did I above say "... is by definition a scam"?

There is no "Windows Security" team or company or anything even vaguely similar.

You Windows operating system does NOT report any info to anybody; only malicious software does that!

Neither Microsoft nor any of their partner companies care about your computer's and your well being!

You don't even have to take alone my word for it; here are links to two very official web pages about that exact same issue:

About Me

52 years in Information Technology and 34 years of experience with PCs as of 2016. Specialized in non-destructive virus and malware removal, home computer protection and showing my customers how to keep their computers "mean and clean". From 2004 to 2015 I was the regular computer guru on a local radio call-in talk show. From April 2015 through April 2016 I was bi-wwekly on WBKV 1470AM. I offer only house calls and work exclusively on MS-Windows. I do NOT sell hardware or software, I sell only my know how, my experience and my time.